Tehran, Baghdad, Washington

Today’s New York Times story by James Glanz and Mark Mazzetti reveals some enraging details of the operation that resulted in the murder of five American soldiers in Karbala on January 20. The sophistication of the operation points in the direction of the Mahdi Army and its patrons in Tehran. At the same time the administration appears to have made the calculation that Americans can’t stand stand the truth about Tehran. FOX News reports that the administration’s planned release of detailed evidence linking the Iranian government to efforts to destabilize Iraq have been put on hold. Tony Blankley’s column commenting on the politics of Iraq emphasizes Washington’s contribution to our current difficulties:

Now is a good time for clear thinking and speaking. If we intend to succeed (and it is vital that we do), then we must persist. If the “surge” doesn’t work, then more troops and different strategies should be employed.
If we are going to throw in the towel, then we should bring the troops home promptly, lick our wounds and prepare for the inevitable Third Gulf War, which we will have to fight under far worse conditions than currently. Either of those options are at least honest (although the latter is dangerously foolish).
But the current mentality in Washington — to pretend that there is a third way between victory and defeat — is morally despicable. Washington politicians of both parties are trying to salve their consciences for the ignominy of accepting defeat by fooling either themselves or the public into believing they are doing otherwise.
Perhaps they can fool their own flaccid minds, but history grades
hard and true. And history may enter its ledger with shocking promptness.